By Kevin Marriott at Poltair Park

WESTERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

St Austell 1 Saltash United 4

SALTASH produced arguably their best performance of the season to sweep aside St Austell on a mud bath of a pitch at Poltair Park.

The Ashes dominated from start to finish and were unfortunate not to add to their goals tally on a playing surface which did well to pass referee Tim Burley’s late morning inspection.

Tom Payne put the visitors ahead with a rare headed goal in the 33rd minute and crucially Rikki Shepherd added a second goal on the stroke of half-time.

Payne was desperately close to making it 3-0 just two minutes into the second half, before George Marris reduced the arrears four minutes later by finishing off the best move of the match.

It was, however, a false dawn for a strangely subdued Lillywhites team, as the Ashes added two goals in two minutes around the hour mark from Shepherd and Hayden Greening to make sure of the points.

St Austell were much improved in the final 20 minutes, but Saltash dug deep to deny them any hope of a late revival and the Ashes even saw Shepherd’s chip go agonisingly wide.

Shepherd should have scored as early as the fourth minute as a superb cross from the left by Kieran O’Melia presented him with a golden opportunity but his header from six yards went wide.

St Austell were claiming a goal in the 28th minute when Adam Carter felt the ball had been forced over the line from a corner, but a linesman shouted ‘no chance’ as the striker continued his protest.

A minute later Carter went down under a challenge just inside the area and wanted a penalty, but again the officials waved away his appeal and his verbal response cost him 10 minutes in the sin-bin.

While he was cooling off, Payne’s header put Saltash ahead before Liam Eddy was denied an instant equaliser by a fine Tyler Coombes save.

Shepherd’s first goal, seconds before the break, came as the result of a defensive mix-up but the visitors deserved their half-time advantage.

And they almost made it 3-0 after 47 minutes. Greening’s 20-yard piledriver was only parried by keeper Andy Collings, and Shepherd played back to Payne, whose goal-bound shot took a deflection off a defender to send the ball inches wide.

St Austell had hardly strung two passes together but then suddenly produced a superb passing move along the left before the ball was delivered into the box for Marris to be in the right place at the right time to score.

This should have galvanised the home side – instead Saltash stepped it up, first hitting the post from a Payne free kick, then making it 3-1 on the hour with a close range finish from Shepherd.

Two minutes later the Ashes were back in the St Austell penalty area, piling the pressure on from a corner, and when the ball broke to central defender Greening on the edge of the area, he sent a stunning shot into the far corner.

ST AUSTELL: Andy Collings, Jake Shaw (Ben Collins 82), Martyn Duff, Henry Wilson, Damon Mulready (Noah Teagle 67), Tom Whipp, Neil Slateford (Callum Watson 56), Matt Searle, Liam Eddy (Ryan Downing 56), Adam Carter, George Marris (Kieron Bishop 82).

SALTASH UNITED: Tyler Coombes, Tom Badcott, Alfie Wotton, Ben Goulty, Hayden Greening, Finley Wilkes (Eli Evans 67), Kieran O’Melia (Jack Kelsey 64), Joe Preece (Deacon Thomson 57), Rikki Shepherd, Aaron Goulty (Freddy Tolcher 82), Tom Payne.

Men of the Match. St Austell – Tom Whipp; Saltash United – Hayden Greening.